I Conquered the Tower with the EX-Class Character That I Raised - Chapter 97

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 97
To summarize Min Ji-hee’s report.
“You wish to use the Mobile Fortress for military purposes?”
“Yes, Apostle. Operating Arachne merely as a walking mobile fortress is extraordinarily inefficient.”
“Hmm.”
“This could be called a ‘strategic strike carrier’—unprecedented in human history.”
Min Ji-hee’s eyes gleamed with sharp intensity.
It seemed she already had a rough blueprint in mind for how to deploy the Mobile Fortress Arachne.
“Details.”
As if she’d been waiting for permission, Min Ji-hee unleashed her proposal.
“First, we select only the elite A-rank hunters and combat-specialized personnel from the B-rank hunters, then board them onto Arachne.”
“And?”
“Using Arachne’s perfect stealth capabilities and defensive barriers, we drop the hunters directly above the enemy’s heartland at maximum altitude.”
“A kind of carrier force.”
“Precisely. And the first target of this strategy is…”
Min Ji-hee tapped her wrist-mounted watch, and a hologram materialized.
A map of South Korea glowed in brilliant blue.
A red dot marked a single location in the south.
“Busan.”
Busan.
Once Seoul fell, it became South Korea’s second capital, only to be swallowed by the overwhelming assault of maritime beasts—now a city of ruins.
“Through Arachne, we intend to reclaim our lost second capital.”
‘So this was the objective from the start.’
How to deploy Arachne.
Min Ji-hee had added a single phrase before that proposition.
‘For South Korea’—how to deploy Arachne.
And she had set Busan’s reclamation as the first priority.
A characteristically Min Ji-hee approach.
‘Busan, then…’
The reason South Korea, with Han Seol-ah as its Guardian, had yet to reclaim Busan was clear.
Whenever those creatures faced disadvantage on land, they fled immediately beneath the waves, and whenever Han Seol-ah left to seal Gates elsewhere, they would crawl back up with ghostly precision to strike from behind.
Han Seol-ah was like the final adhesive holding together South Korea’s tattered fabric.
With tears threatening to rip through the nation from every direction, one could not indefinitely station Han Seol-ah in the waters before Busan.
Ultimately, there was no means to strike directly at their true stronghold—the sea itself.
The maritime nature of these beasts was what had prevented Busan’s reclamation.
“The fundamental cause of losing Busan is the colossal maritime boss lurking in the waters before the city—the Kraken.”
Min Ji-hee clenched her fist as she continued.
The ‘Busan Gate’ had manifested far out in the South Sea.
Maritime beasts poured forth from it to assault Busan.
And finally, the colossal squid known as the Kraken appeared and delivered the killing blow.
Normally, monsters from the Gate should naturally transform into golden dust and disappear as time passes.
But this creature was different.
As if it understood the system’s loophole—that closing the Gate required avoiding excessive destruction—it had refrained from completely obliterating Busan, instead selectively devouring people like plucking choice morsels, and had reigned for an eternity.
The second method of closing a Gate, “subjugation,” was…
“To strike the Kraken, we’d need to deploy a strike force to the heart of the South Sea. But with conventional warships or transport aircraft, it’s been impossible to penetrate the tidal waves and tentacle assaults it generates while delivering Han Seol-ah as a Hunter in combat-ready condition. We’ve pleaded with other nations to lend us their transport vessels, but we’ve been refused every time.”
It had been impossible.
In the end, Min Ji-hee had been forced to abandon Busan with tears in her eyes.
“But now, we finally have the means to kill the Kraken.”
Her eyes blazed with the fervent desire to achieve this long-cherished goal at last.
“The Mobile Fortress Arachne is amphibious. Its stealth capabilities are top-tier so the Kraken won’t detect it and flee. Moreover, it possesses both defensive barriers and structural durability sufficient to withstand even the Kraken’s attacks.”
It was possible.
We could reclaim Busan.
With Arachne, it was within reach!
‘Excellent.’
As I listened to Min Ji-hee’s explanation, satisfaction welled up within me.
The Kraken?
I can capture it.
‘I’ve already created plenty of anchors. I can install them off the coast of Busan and simply link through them as needed. It’s entirely feasible.’
Min Ji-hee likely already knows I can kill the Kraken.
But whether our previous back-and-forth had truly had an educational effect, Min Ji-hee no longer relied solely on my military might.
She had devised a grand strategic vision to overcome the crisis by leveraging the cards South Korea held.
Truly befitting Min Ji-hee.
‘This is truly excellent.’
More than the brilliance of the plan itself that Min Ji-hee had presented,
what delighted me was that the inherent “brilliance” she possessed as a strategist had rekindled.
“An excellent plan.”
“Thank you! Then I’ll immediately prepare detailed departmental assignments for Arachne’s operation and submit a Hunter deployment schedule….”
“No.”
When a subordinate proves their capability, one must bestow upon them a reward befitting their merit.
“I’m entrusting the entire Arachne operation to you.”
“…Pardon?”
“From start to finish, you handle everything. You won’t even need my approval.”
Min Ji-hee froze, her body going rigid.
At my unprecedented declaration, Min Ji-hee’s frame began to tremble ever so slightly.
‘Heh.’
She understood my meaning—that I trust you completely.
Ten years’ worth of analysis on cutting-edge technology.
Coordination of the Hunters who would board.
Diplomatic damage control with foreign nations.
And the masterplan for the grand national undertaking of reclaiming Busan itself.
Entrusting the full authority of this massive project to my staff without even requiring reports—what kind of superior does that?
Isn’t this the very epitome of leadership? Placing absolute trust in capable subordinates and granting them unlimited authority.
‘There’s no boss like me in this world.’
The legendary ‘good boss’ that only exists in fairy tales.
That’s me.
“From start to finish, you handle everything.”
Feel free to call me a unicorn boss from now on.
Min Ji-hee stared into empty space with unfocused eyes, overwhelmed with emotion, before a single tear rolled down her cheek.
‘Is she really that moved…’
I’ll have to take good care of her going forward.
* * *
I sent off the dazed Min Ji-hee and moved alone to the front of Seoul Tower.
I brought Nopi along just in case something unexpected happened.
I also packed plenty of Link Stones for emergency use and escape via Anchor.
And I summoned the entire climbing party.
This farming run would be done together with everyone.
I’d distribute all the artifacts we obtained in the process equally.
‘Yereche deserted, so there’s nothing I can do about that.’
Tsk, tsk.
Blame your own foolishness for abandoning your post without my permission…
[Apostle, here’s the recommendation list Kang Hyo-jun sent over.]
While waiting for the party members to arrive, the information I’d been expecting finally came through.
Whitey displayed the list in full.
Even a cursory glance revealed an enormous volume of data.
For materials compiled and sent in just ten minutes, considerable effort had gone into it.
[Hair Loss Treatment Elixir]
[Opinion: Even mana that cured cancer couldn’t cure hair loss. A treatment that could cure baldness would truly deserve to be called a ‘divine potion’.]
‘True enough. Even enhancement-class Hunters couldn’t do anything about completely receded hairlines…’
I offered a moment of silence for Kim Chul-soo’s departed hair follicles with an action beam.
[Glutton’s Elixir]
[Opinion: Everyone desires health, but few wish to maintain it by ‘eating less.’ If we could enable people to ‘eat delicious food in satisfying abundance’ while ‘boosting the body’s structure to prevent health deterioration,’ such a potion would truly deserve to be called a ‘divine elixir’.]
‘That’s a fair point.’
People don’t want to abandon or sacrifice the joy of eating just to avoid gaining weight.
They want to eat abundantly while staying lean and healthy.
‘A mukbang creator mass-production elixir, essentially.’
[Universal Fusion Solution]
[Opinion: Any Master Craftsman would wish to draw out the ultimate potential of mana stones, but since mana stones absolutely refuse to blend with other materials, they’ve had to give up. A potion that makes such ‘fusion’ possible would be called a ‘divine potion’ by any craftsman.]
Below that, dozens more ingenious ideas continued, requiring considerable scrolling to reach the end.
[Hunter PTSD Permanent Erasure Agent]
[Pet Lifespan Extension Elixir]
[10-Minute Buffer Sleep Draught]
[Non-Narcotic Painless Analgesic]
…and so on.
The quality was almost unbelievable for something compiled in just ten minutes.
‘See? You can do it when you try, Kang Hyo-jun.’
It was confirmed now.
People grow stronger the more they’re pushed.
The only regret was that the document lacked information on whether high-tier materials obtainable only from the Korean Tower could be used in crafting.
‘Well, that makes sense.’
There was no way anyone but me would know what drops from the higher floors.
I’d probed the Black Market’s information network to see if they knew anything, but it seemed they didn’t.
Anyway.
It was an incredibly useful and excellent resource, but…
it was far too long.
‘When am I supposed to read through all of this?’
“Whitey, give me a three-line summary.”
[Hair Loss Treatment Elixir, Glutton’s Draught, and Universal Dissolution Solution. I recommend these three.]
“As expected.”
Those were indeed the entries that caught my eye first.
“Unfortunately, the Hair Loss Treatment Elixir cannot be crafted.”
With potions at the level I was currently capable of making, I couldn’t cure hair loss…
“It becomes possible once you reach the level of high-tier elixirs and beyond, but…”
Should I really release something like this on Earth right now?
Shouldn’t I wait until Kim Chul-soo’s hair follicles are completely dead?
By then, Earth’s alchemy would have advanced considerably as well.
Of course, the difficulty of crafting it was also a factor.
This was something I should only attempt after unlocking the 13th-tier Creation branch.
“The Glutton’s Draught is also out.”
It was a fascinating and remarkable potion, but if it was someone Happy called “The Old Master,” then they were likely quite elderly.
The appeal seemed limited.
And releasing it on Earth, where food was already scarce, wasn’t appropriate.
‘In a world where far more people die from starvation or muscle loss than grow fat from eating well…’
I’d revisit that idea later, once food supplies became abundant again—back to pre-Tower levels.
That left the Universal Dissolution Solution.
In summary, a solution capable of dissolving even mana stones.
Perfect for capturing the Master Craftsman’s interest…
and it would prove useful when crafting Nopi’s components in the future.
The crafting method was also…
not difficult at this level.
I activated Lost Honor with the Nopi I’d brought and showed Whitey the combination formula.
“Nopi, compile all the materials we need. Check whether we can obtain them with gold or points.”
[…I cannot read it, Agent.]
“What?”
[It is a writing system that does not exist in my database.]
“What are you talking about? It’s Korean.”
To my eyes, it clearly appears in Korean characters.
“Look. Read after me. Se-gye-su-ui-i-seul.”
[…It is not Korean, Agent.]
If it’s not Korean, then what is it?
But Whitey would never lie to me.
“Then how does it appear to your eyes?”
[Like… an eerie swarm of worms that endlessly writhe and shift their forms at will.]
“Only the characters in this recipe?”
[No. Everything displayed on the screen appears that way.]
Wait.
A chill traced down my spine.
“So you’re telling me that all the text in Lost Honor up until now… has been appearing to you like that?”
[Agent.]
Whitey spoke slowly, as if to calm my alarm.
[It is not merely the text.]
“…Then what?”
[The entire frame of that screen you keep suspended in midair is composed of those incomprehensible writhing insect swarms.]
It was a situation I had never anticipated.
A powerful question immediately crossed my mind.
“Wait. You definitely checked Nebula’s mana reserves for me before.”
[I statistically inferred that the structure of the screen you primarily observe would be similar to a typical early 21st-century MMORPG interface.]
Whitey’s calm voice continued.
“Right. And?”
[…When you previously pointed at empty space with your finger and said ‘this is MP’. I was scanning the length of the ‘worm swarms’ clustered in that area in real-time, and reporting the decreasing length to you by calculating it in reverse as a percentage.]
I couldn’t even muster a hollow laugh at the absurdity.
“…Insane. Why are you only telling me this crucial fact now?”
[Since magic is an incomprehensible force, I thought it natural that things would be strange. I had believed that the source of your power all this time was those ‘worms’, and that you were borrowing power from that ‘worm world’.]
Whitey explained the matter in greater detail.
When I unlocked the Necromancer class and cast the authority spell ‘Ocean of Blood’ in the underground chamber, Whitey observed it and concluded that I was ‘copying already-completed magic from the worm world and overwriting it onto reality’.
Therefore, what I called ‘Lost Honor’—the ‘worm world’ inside the monitor—had been definitively classified to Whitey as an ‘incomprehensible interdimensional realm’.
“So you didn’t mention it because you didn’t think it was strange?”
[…I now judge it to be extremely strange.]
Whitey’s voice grew grave as well.
[What exactly is that?]
What indeed.
…It’s a game.
A terrifyingly mysterious one.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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